That a titan of human thought could in any way, shape or form be associated with that poor PTSD victim from Russia - is just proof that we indeed live in an imperfect sublunar realm, deprived of all genuine existence, mere shadows on the wall of the real, ideal forms up there.
I'm also curious about how Ayn Rand and Plato were thrown into the same group. I remember well that Plato went on and on about his Utopia of the State controlling the lives of everyone, people going to college until they're 32 and so on. Those two are pretty much opposites. And Plato was a titan of human thought? He misunderstood everything Socrates was about and it took us Aristotle being born to somewhat set us back on track. Maybe whoever said that is really into geometry of solids.
Anyone care to throw me a bone? What did I miss? Why did I make Ayn Rand roll in her grave?
Plato's utopia would be ruled by a philosopher-king, in contrast to the Athenian democracy in which he lived. This could be considered an example of the idea that "the smart aren't corruptible".
I can't speak for the other poster but I imagine that Rand's heroes would not be corruptible, for example, refusing government subsidies on moral grounds or sacrificing their artistic vision for commercial reasons
From what I remember of Atlas Shrugged, Rand only creates fantasy worlds where bad guys can be tempted. Good guys are simply never put into the situation, because whatever law or principle they might break has already been recast as intrinsically evil.
> It was said that Nat Taggart had staked his life on his railroad many times; but once, he staked more than his life. Desperate for funds, with the construction of his line suspended, he threw down three flights of stairs a distinguished gentleman who offered him a loan from the government.
Exactly my point. Nat Taggart is being shown as incorruptible, within the standards of "corruption" that the author has placed into her Mary-Sue-Universe.
He doesn't just say "no", he throws the guy down three flights of stairs!
And for some reason liberals think that the attempted extortion of money from people within a certain radius of a certain situation is an honorable act.
Despite her other failings, she is obviously very smart. People talking about the early life at Google all agree on that.